HBO: Game of Thrones

[quartermainefan]

I like Cersei's story. I imagine her machinations will be her undoing because she is packing the offices with people not qualified for the job. Her uncle was right in everything he said to her, but I don't see him becoming a major character. LH does a great job as Cersei though and the way she clearly thought Jaime was an idiot for stating the obvious "It's a threat". And you have to love her unending contempt for Margeary. She has contempt for pretty much everybody and heeds no mind but her own. Tywin said it best a couple of years back: she isn't to be distrusted because she is a woman, she is to be distrusted because she is not as smart as she thinks she is. She's plenty smart, just not smart enough to run the kingdom. If she were she wouldn't be packing her council with nitwits just because she can control them. Tywin never did that; he packed his council with the A Team of King's Landing schemers and sneaks.

Edited April 20, 2015 by quartermainefan

[Vee]

Pretty great. Loved the stuff with Gilly, Shireen and Sam Tarly. I still think this is going to end in Jon having to take down Stannis and Melisandre himself.

Daenerys had no good options, but I'm glad the show is digging deep into the limits of her philosophy vs. the reality of ruling. This Meereen situation may be in pieces by the time Tyrion and Varys arrive.

Cersei getting shot down by Kevan was interesting. I just fear whatever the hell she's up to with Qyburn. I'm not sure she knows, really, but whatever he's doing is gonna produce some crazy, awful [!@#$%^&*] that everybody's gonna regret.

Great to see Indira Varma again and I've always loved her and Alexander Siddig.

Poor Brienne! I was glad they got that over with, so they're clearly going somewhere. Now what?

I think her character has always had depth. I think most of them do.

She's vicious but she's not smart enough, she never has been, and I keep thinking she'll be lucky to end the season alive. I thought so last year and I think so this year. If Cersei somehow makes it to Season 7 it will be by the skin of her teeth.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Vee

[YRBB]

An interview with a Man:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/19/game-thrones-character-Jaqen-Hghar-returns

Some mildly spoilery 'speculation' is included on his part.

[DRW50]

I've always liked Dany, but I wouldn't say 98% of what she had to do in seasons 2-the first half of 4 was very deep.

I do think they're making up for it now.

[DRW50]

Why was there a need to actually show Tommen and Margaery in bed? Couldn't we get the gist of it from her talk the next morning? It felt like shock value. Natalie Dormer spoke of her discomfort with the scene last season where she was supposed to kiss Tommen - was this somehow their way of making sure she got the message?

They've repeatedly made Margaery look like an idiot, with her taunting Cersei (and this was not the first time), and her allowing Loras to troll for dick in the local brothels. And they've also taken away most of her savvy by making it clear that her main skill with Tommen is that she's a sexy lady.

I don't know why the show has such an odd disdain for the Tyrells, and I say that as someone who loves watching Cersei and often feels pity for her even when I shouldn't.

In other thoughts...

- I'm glad to finally see some depth to Brienne's story again, and to see her treat Pod with more basic decency. That Gwendoline Christie is such a striking woman just makes the whole "ha ha Brienne the Beauty" arc more poignant, in some odd way, because many who are called ugly are beautiful, they just don't fit society's standards.

- Really glad to see that Jon's story continues to be strong and shapes the character, and that Slynt was a coward to the end.

- Still don't care about Tyrion and glad his airtime was relatively brief. I hope Jorah will get my interest.

- I'm reminded of why I prefer sparing use of Jaqen. Too much becomes ponderous late-season BSG riddle-talking. It's nice to see Arya (and viewers) reminded that she really has a long way to go, but I just have very limited interest. But the scene where Arya couldn't give up Needle was one of her strongest in quite a while.

- Does anything sum up this show more than a very tense, powerful scene (Jon beheading Slynt) immediately panning to closeups of random naked women displaying themselves for a dirty old man?

- A+ for Jon/Davos interaction.

- I felt queasy when Sansa was begging Littlefinger not to make her go with the Boltons. How did this story so quickly become another chapter in Sansa being debased and used by various men? And again I will ask just how stupid is this man? I'd love to say this will end with Sansa having some strength or power, but I just can't trust it.

[quartermainefan]

I love the Sansa twist. She is truly the strongest character on the show because she never stops enduring, and just when you think things can't get worse for her they do. I have a feeling though she will find a way to make the Boltons pay, and it will be great to see her reaction to the new Theon. I am going to assume there will be a dead Bolton somewhere down the line.

[Juliajms]

I'm interested in seeing Theon's reaction to Sansa. Theon kind of seemed less Reek tonight. I also thought it was interesting that the servant lady said " The North remembers" to Sansa. That tells me she has allies among the common people, so maybe that will help her down the line.

[YRBB]

The Sansa twist was stunning. I knew that things had gone too well for her for too long. I just never imagined she would be brought into Ramsay's orbit. He was being so nice and courteous, it only makes me even more worried. And the shot of what I presume are more of Ramsay's women/wives. Interesting. I loved that moment were Theon first sees Sansa. Julia, I agree, Theon did seem to be 'snapping' out of it in some parts. GREAT acting, right there. And the woman telling Sansa that the North Remembers. With that and Brienne looming around, Sansa may just have a little help this time around.

I really liked Brienne opening up to Pod about her past and offering to teach him how to fight.

Again, the establishing CGI shots of various locations are stunning. Beautiful work (although not necessarily 100% believable CGI).

The 'job scene' with Jon Snow and Slynt was an absolute highlight. I wanted Jon to go through with showing his command so much and it really brought to mind the very beginning of the show with Jon's father teaching him just that. Goodbye, Slynt! Also, Davos and Jon having a 1-on-1. You can't get more awesome than that.

I don't know if I even have words for what Cersei has that man doing with that body. Frankenstein? Oooooooh, this is going to be an epic disaster and I'm sure she will regret it.

I thought the Tommen/Margaery scene was wonderfully handled, even if I was uncomfortable watching it. Mostly left to the imagination. Margaery/Cersei bitchiness is always fun. The shot of Cersei walking off with Margaery and her maidens laughing was so soap opera.

Arya getting rid of her things but holding on to Needle nearly made me cry. I knew she wouldn't be able to do it. She just can't. LOL at her calling that girl a c unt LMAO! I was happy seeing Jaqen back but his way of speaking is annoying me a bit.

I guess Tyrion found his ticket to Dany! Nice seeing Jorah again. I like the Tyrion/Varys bickering.

[DRW50]

She's been brainwashed/manipulated by a man who helped kill her family, set her up on a murder charge, used her to help cover up her aunt's murder, and risks her life by parading her around the North in plain view.

If anything I think things ended up being even worse for her, given that she now has no protection from a rapist and murderer.

All the twist told me was that the show will never be able to see Sansa as more than a generic ingenue/victim, unless they magically rewrite Ramsay to not be a complete lunatic. He would never care about anything she has to say. Neither would Roose, really.

[Skin]

Maybe it's just me but I felt her entire season three storyline was the most captivating of the show that season. I got goosebumps every time that cinematic score played and she started speaking the gibberish-y language when she was freeing the slaves. Dany's always been my favorite character on the show, even though many seem to think her story isn't interesting I feel like she is the major chess piece on the board just waiting to be released on to the playing field.

I need Ramsey to die, he offends me on every level and I just need for him to suffer a horrible, horrific death.

[DRW50]

That episode was very dynamic. The rest of her story that season...eh. I did like when she stood up to the guy from Meereen who tried to bribe her and threaten her.

[Vee]

I about died when I realized Sansa and Littlefinger were about to ride into the same hold as Theon. Events are all coming to a head and a lot of them seem to bringing several people from House Stark back together - I honestly can't wait. But if anyone gets to kill Ramsay I hope it's Sansa herself. Theon's been through a lot but he made several of his own choices, and I'd rather give Sansa the win. I think if we assume she will be victimized and destroyed we don't give her enough credit, and I also don't believe she trusts Littlefinger at all, but he had a point about not running anymore and that's why she chose to go. BTW, that was a wonderful, understated moment when Theon saw the flayed bodies and clearly was thinking back to Bran and Rickon.

I am glad we got Brienne's wonderful monologue - I love Gwendoline Christie so much. And I am glad she hasn't given up. What was driven home this week for me was how all that's left of House Stark has had to change and transform in order to survive. Sansa rides into Moat Cailin with her hair dyed and dressed as a regal lady to wed for her survival, Theon is cowering like a mad serf in the dirt and trying to stay unnoticed; Arya is a world away in the House of Black and White trying to learn their impossible ways; Bran is beyond the Wall all season probably becoming a Jedi Knight; and Jon has finally embracing the hard duties of leadership and is looking and feeling every bit the Lord Commander.

Speaking of the Lord Commander in charge, Kit Harington was born to play this stuff and he does it so well, with real gravitas that reminds me a lot of Sean Bean's gruff authority. The character's also balanced on an interesting knife-edge - Stannis truly does respect him (as we saw in that great scene with him, Dillane and Liam Cunningham) and he can display qualities which Stannis can approve of, because some of those qualities (like commanding loyalty and discipline, and therefore killing Slynt) are absolutely necessary. But he can't be like Stannis, not all the way. Yet Davos does have a point about them leaving the Wall. We all know Jon can't stay there forever, it's just a matter of time.

Everything with Cersei was deeply interesting. She actually looked fairly devastated to me when she went to see Margaery, and I was wondering if she'd finally begun to realize (after Tommen brought up Casterly Rock) how badly she'd fucked up in alienating the incumbent Queen. (I also don't think Margaery came off as an idiot at all - she simply is Queen now, she has the power and she knows Cersei can do nothing to her anymore, or so she thinks. I don't get the sense the show has disdain for the Tyrells and certainly not for Margaery.) I don't know where her relationship with the Sparrows is going but it fascinates me. And Jonathan Pryce is one of the greats. I knew the Mountain's body was going to move on that table in Qyburn's laboratory, and I just know something terrible will happen. Speaking of Tommen, I know Dean-Charles Chapman gave an interview about doing that scene with Natalie Dormer, which I was a little surprised they went through with. Apparently she's a total pro and put him completely at ease on a very, very small and closed set. That can't be easy for a kid of 16, even if he was apparently still dressed.

Another nice grace note: Tyrion being reminded of Shae and being unable to go with the prostitute in Volantis. Also, Daenerys becoming enough of a cultural phenomenon that they've got whores cosplaying as her. The whole thing with the High Septon, BTW, cracked me up (as did what appeared to be a faux-bearded Olyver's deeply bored delivery). It was so bawdy and ludicrous and yet so typical of hypocrites in high places - the show may have a fantasy context but kink is the same everywhere.

ETA: My mistake - apparently Sansa, Littlefinger and the Boltons (and Theon) met up at Winterfell, and Sansa and Littlefinger only passed through Moat Cailin. (The opening sequence map was misleading.) The set did look familiar to me, and the scene with the maid who says "welcome home" has more weight now (as does Theon seeing the flayed men).

Edited April 28, 2015 by Vee

[DRW50]

It's not so much about underestimating Sansa as to me having a difficult time believing that a family who have, for generations and generations, done nothing but assault and murder women (Roose murdered his mistress and his wife, I think), would see her as anything but another warm body to slowly put into the ground. The Telltale game got it right - it doesn't matter what you say to Ramsay. He is a lunatic. No amount of manipulation or cunning is going to stop that.

If Sansa is just put into this story for a "shocking" relationship with Ramsay, followed by killing him, then it won't feel earned to me. D&D even basically said they only put her in it because viewers know her. So it's barely even about her, as most of her scenes this season have not felt like her to me.

[Vee]

I don't think that's what's coming. And I also don't think Roose Bolton is interested in killing for killing's sake, at least not when power and survival are involved. In fact, that's exactly why he told his insane son (who will only defer to him) that killing is not always the right means to an end. Roose told Ramsay they can't hold the North alone, which is why they needed a convenient marriage with someone the North will respect and follow. That is Sansa Stark. They need Sansa and they need her alive. That was the whole point of the conversation between those two.

I read that interview and I disagree. That is not what they said - they said they thought Sophie Turner was incredibly talented and they did not want to sideline her as the most recent book evidently had. Instead they wanted to put her in the thick of the action in the North, which they have. I don't think it's just going to be a story about Sansa being abused and tortured. She made the choice to go back to Winterfell and to take back the North, and I think that's exactly what she is going to do. I don't see Ramsay lasting the year, but we'll see. I think this is who Sansa is now - this is who she chose to become after watching what happened to her family in King's Landing, and what happened at the Eyrie. She knows that like all the others, to survive she has to change. But I don't think she is going to change into what Littlefinger wants, either. She's playing him as much as he is playing her; that is what I took away from their interaction after Lysa's death. It was clear the choices she made there and I think it was Turner's best work on the show. She's really come into her own.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Vee

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Lol the Sansa twist is predictable and absolutely illogical considering all the things Littlefinger has shown her. if it doesn't end with her slitting Ramsay's throat then it will be a joke.